Friday, 9 May 2008

Chocolate Macarons with Caramel Cream

Now that I'm busy discovering the world of home-made ice cream, I seem to have plenty of egg whites left over. This is good news for macaron bakers!For these chocolate ones, I used the same recipe that I used for my coffee ones - I just replaced the coffee powder with cocoa powder. While they didn't really taste that much of chocolate, they looked chocolatey.The other minor change I made, was to sieve the ground almonds into the bowl with the icing sugar and cocoa powder. There was a tablespoon or so of ground almonds that were too large to go through the sieve, I ground these up finely and sieved again.

The filling was made from double cream, which had been whipped to firm peaks with a couple of tablespoons of dulce de leche, although any creamy firm caramel will do.

Sieve the ground almonds into a large bowl, any left in the sieve should be ground finely, if you have a grinder, and sieved again. This makes for a smoother macaron, but if you don't have a grinder, it doesn't really matter - it's just aesthetics. Add the icing sugar and cocoa powder, then put to one side.

In a large clean, dry bowl, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they become foamy and stiff. Gradually add the granulated sugar, whisking well after each addition, until the mixture is stiff and shiny.

Gently fold in the almond mixture, using a large spoon or spatula, until incorporated. The mixture should be shiny and firm, but with a bit of 'flow' to it. Don't over-mix it or it will be too runny.

Fill a piping bag with a 1cm round tip and pipe the mixture onto Silpat or baking parchment. Tap the sheets gently to remove air bubbles and let dry at room temperature for about an hour or so before baking.

Bake in a preheated oven, 160º/325F for about 10-12 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to keep the door ajar slightly, and rotate the baking sheets after 5 minutes for more even baking.

Remove from the oven and leave to go cold. Peel off the Silpat or baking parchment.

Whip the cream to stiff peaks and gently fold in the dulce de leche to taste. Pipe or spoon onto half the macarons and top with the other half before serving.

Note: I didn't bother to keep the door ajar this time and they were fine.

bless your heart. i'm not a big coffee drinker-only when i look like the dead- but i love coffee flavoured stuff. this looks great. if only i could bother making macarons! when i do, i'll make this! ;) x

Oh my...oh my...and oh my...I tried macarons last week and they nearly brought me to my knees in frustration, horribly frustrating. The mouth-feel and taste was great - but the look - oh horror. So, it's back to the drawing board - and I'll be using your recipe this time. :)

For heavens sake Nic...& you called me devil??? These are absolutely divine. Ann has company; I'm another food blogger who's never tried macaroons, though you are kinda enticing me to take my chances! tell me Nic, would foil or butter paper do the trick too? Would love to try your coffee versions...YUMMMM (make that double; YUMMMM YUMMMM)

Ann - oh no, sorry to hear this! I wonder what the problem was? Do you think the mixture was too runny or maybe too lumpy (almonds not ground fine enough?) The first time I made them my mix was too wet, did you weigh the ingredients?

aforkfulofspaghetti - ha, ha! Well, they are not the tiny ones, so I reckon if you have an average mouth we will be looking at just the one sadly.

Brilynn, Rosie, Nina and Mimi - thank you all!

Passionate baker - tee hee!You know what, I personally wouldn't take my chances with foil or butter paper - I think they would stick. But having said that, I've not done it and it might work.

Beautiful macaroons. I've just got into making ice-cream and always have whites lurking in the fridge. I'd not thought of making macaroons with them, but think I will give them a go. Dulche de leche in the middle?? Yummm.

Oh my... look at the state of those!! Absolutely gorgeous - you should be working at Pierre Herme in Paris ;-) Have always been too scared to make macaroons for some reason, but you make it look quite doable...